Litterbug
by Reithel
Summary: She was clumsy, easily distracted, and incredibly enthusiastic about everyday stuff. And while those behaviors usually made Moana cringe, it was different when it came to this girl. Like being a scatterbrain suited her. [Modern AU. MoAriel. Ocean Girlfriends. Oneshot]


**Disclaimer for the ENTIRE STORY:**  
Disney owns Little Mermaid and Moana. Whatever software, apps, websites, products, brands, and anything that is copyrighted that I might use does NOT belong to me. I own nothing but the plot.

 **Author's Note:**  
So, when I watched Moana a few months ago, I instantly became a MoAriel fan. I was pleasantly surprised that it's actually a pairing that exists. They're called 'Ocean Girlfriends' on Tumblr! And since there're a few amounts of MoAriel fics out there, I decided to contribute too, not just in AO3 but here as well. I regret nothing.

 **Litterbug**  
by Reithel

* * *

Moana had seen many odd things in her life. It was a package deal that came with being Maui's best friend. He had a strange fascination with hooks and obsession with his silky hair. Yes, her life was entertaining. But never in her dreams had she ever thought that one day, she would be looking at a stranger's ass dangling off a huge dumpster on her first day in a new subdivision.

Okay, it wasn't in flesh. There was underwear covering it. A _white_ one, mind you. And from the ruffles that she could see, Moana easily imagined the skirt of this woman hanging uselessly around her waist.

It was inappropriate to keep watching whoever this butt and flailing legs belonged to. It was even more impolite to stand there gawking with a phone on hand - the person on the other line left forgotten in favor of the incredulous show - when loud disgruntled noises came from the owner of that tushie.

"Just a... little... bit... more! AHA!"

The high pitched squeak followed by loud metallic noises falling over woke Moana from her trance and, without excusing herself, hit the end call button and stormed towards the girl who was now sprawled unceremoniously on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Moana asked, kneeling down and suppressing a grimace when the scent of the girl wafted through her nose. _That_ was going to be difficult to get rid of. She had to take a few seconds to tighten her throat, swallow the rising bile, and speak again. "What were you doing?"

"I found it!" said the girl, her eyes twinkling as she shoved a small cube for Moana to see.

It was a piece from a Rubik's cube. Moana knew what it was because she had played with one as a child. Her father wanted her to learn how to piece puzzles and solve problems at a young age. But she didn't say anything. She couldn't. For she was trying to take in the sight of this woman before her.

The girl, she noted, had big aquatic eyes that can rival that of a deep blue sea. She was wearing a white button-up shirt, a light purple ribbon tied under the collar, and a dark green skirt that reached past her knee. Her hair, though slightly tousled and dirty from her earlier scrimmage, was a bright shade of red.

In other words, if one would disregard or ignore the foul smell and presence of dirt and smudges of combined disgusting _rotten food_ on her face, she didn't look unfortunate enough to result in messing around with trash.

"Why were you in the...?"

An innocent blink was the first response, followed by an, "Oh!" The redhead clapped her hands excitedly and giggled. "I was looking for this."

Moana's eyes flickered for a moment before one of her thick eyebrows raised. " _Inside_ the dumpster?"

"My sister mistook my collection as rubbish and had it thrown out here." The girl's head was tilted like she didn't know why Moana was confused. "And you won't believe what I just saw! Look!"

From out of nowhere, a piece of hairpin was being waved in front of Moana's face. By pure instinct, she scrambled backward, not caring even if the rear of her pants scraped along the pavement, and covered her nose.

"Huh..." The girl blinked at her reaction before narrowing her eyes at the pin. A few seconds later, she cringed after taking a sniff. "Oh wow. That smells funny."

 _Funny doesn't even cut it._

"I have to go. It was nice meeting you!" The girl chirped happily as she stood up, headed straight to the closest building they were on, and disappeared behind an intricately-designed set of doors to what Moana assumed was her house.

* * *

"Well, I guess that settles it," Maui grunted from the other side of the living room. "That all?"

Moana flopped down her sofa with a groan. "Thanks, Maui. I owe you one."

"Good, 'cause I'm starved. Anything for lunch?"

"I just moved in. How can there be anything for lunch?" Moana stood up with what energy she could muster (which wasn't much) and walked like a zombie to the front door. She picked up the flyer handed over to her by the guard on duty earlier that day. "Is pizza alright with you?"

"Four boxes should be fine," answered Maui from somewhere.

Moana rolled her eyes and changed into her outdoor shoes. It was her second day in her new house and the last of which she finally had all her belongings settled in. Now, sore from a day and a half's worth of muscle, she strolled down the road on her way to the gates.

As she passed by a familiar house with a white door with mermaids carved as its design, a breathy chuckle escaped her when she remembered the unusual encounter from the previous day. It took ten minutes to scrub that smell (if it can even be called _that_ ) off her nose, but the woman left quite the impression.

Shaking her head, Moana continued passed the guard, stepped back, questioned him for directions, and followed the instructions. It took her a total of ten minutes to reach the pizza parlor and another twenty minutes to wait for the six boxes she ordered; she _was_ hungry.

On her way back to the subdivision completely recharged from having drink water, a trail of items made her stop. Her eyes trained on the adapter, then to the handkerchief, then to a fork, screwdriver, cap, shoelace- then to the back of a redheaded woman walking in a weird angle, a variety of objects wrapped in her arms and some falling off without her knowledge.

 _At least she's not dirty._

Moana picked up the pieces lined towards their subdivision. The girl was close to the building she disappeared to before and Moana's arms were now full of peculiar things one would never think would go well together.

"Excuse me."

There was a loud huff followed by a soft 'hm?' before the girl turned around, Moana cringing when multiple stuff fell off those skinny arms in the sudden movement. "Oh wow! You collect things too?"

Barely managing to stop herself from rolling her eyes and grinning at the odd conclusion, Moana walked over. "You dropped these," she nudged her head downwards, "and those."

The girl hunched, unable to see the road, only to have the remaining items in her arms falling down on her. "Oh no!" She hurriedly knelt to pick them up in a disorderly manner.

There was a slight tug on the side of Moana's lips. "Here, I'll help."

"No, no! I'm sorry, you don't have to! I," she was cut off when Moana handed over the things neatly arranged according to their shapes and sizes. "Whoa..."

"Uhm..."

"Right! Oh, thank you so much!" The girl gently took her collection back, looking torn between grabbing them hastily and actually being careful. "You arrange them so well! My sisters will have a fit!"

They both stood up. "Those are...?"

"My collections!" said the girl. "They're interesting."

"They are?" An enthusiastic nod was the answer. "They look normal."

When those blue eyes merely stared back at her, Moana could feel the sweat building on her forehead. Was that too straightforward? She wasn't lying. She couldn't find anything interesting about this random combination of junk.

"That's what makes them interesting! They're just objects, but there are stories they get to see that we don't."

Moana could honestly say she didn't understand. Being emotional towards animals, she could. She had a chicken and a baby pig back home that she actually considered friends. Even her best friend talked to crabs sometimes. But to treat inanimate objects like they had a life? Well, she was at a loss for words.

"You're new here, aren't you?" asked the girl. "I think I only saw you once?"

"I moved in yesterday."

"Great!" she cheered, jumping once and yelping when the items on her arms nearly toppled over. "I'm Ariel. I live riiiight over... there!" She puckered her lips towards the door Moana had assumed was her house.

"Moana," she said. "I live a few houses over."

"It's nice to meet you, Moana! And I'm sorry for the weird welcome yesterday," Ariel giggled. "My sisters always say I live wherever the current takes me." Moana was about to correct her about the statement when she said, "With six boxes, you must be hungry. I wouldn't want to keep you."

"Huh?"

"Thank you for the help!" With that, she disappeared with impressive balance behind that same door, leaving Moana confused once again.

She only remembered about the pizza after receiving an angry call from Maui.

* * *

Moana hadn't expected a visitor when she came back from the campus to take care of her documents. Which was why she was surprised to see Ariel standing outside her house and carrying a huge Tupperware.

"Hey!" Ariel greeted.

"Hello." Moana's brows furrowed, unsure how to properly welcome someone other than Maui. "What are you doing here?"

"I haven't given you a proper welcome. We've met twice in a row and all of that happens to be because I'm clumsy, and that's hardly a nice way to be remembered by."

Moana eyed the object Ariel seemed intent for her to accept. "Do people usually give welcoming gifts around here?"

"No, it's just me." Ariel scratched the side of her cheek almost shyly. "I want to make it up to you. I kind of made a bad first impression."

"Not really." Moana managed to hide the amusement as she grabbed the key from inside her pocket and opened the door. "Come in."

"Oh no, I just want to give you this. I don't want to intrude."

"It's fine."

Ariel looked unsure for a second before a bright grin lit up her face again. "Okay then."

They were seated in the dining room, two saucers with a slice of banana cake in front of each of them. Ariel was looking around the house with childlike interest. Moana had to wonder if the other houses in the subdivision had different interior designs.

"You live alone?" Ariel asked out of nowhere.

Moana, caught in the middle of chewing, swallowed and nodded. "For now. I moved earlier than my parents because the new semester for my new school starts this month."

"You're a student and they let you live alone?!" Ariel gasped. "That's amazing! I've always wanted to try living in a dorm but my father wouldn't let me. I even need my sister's help to get his approval when I want to sleep at a friend's house."

"It's not as amazing as it sounds like," Moana explained, a faint hint of a smile on her lips.

"Ah!" Ariel gasped, startling Moana into frowning. "You smiled!"

"Huh?"

"Do it again!" Ariel stood from her stool and leaned across the table, her eyes bright in a similar way as the time she showed Moana that piece of Rubik's cube. "Smile!"

She raised an eyebrow. "You have no sense of personal space, do you?"

Again with that big doleful blink. "There is a table between us," she reasoned but sat back in her chair. "You should smile more often. It suits you."

Without even humoring with an answer, Moana stood up to get a glass of water and gulp it down. Satisfied with the momentary lull in their conversation, she grabbed another glass and a pitcher for Ariel who was back on observing the place, mindlessly mumbling a thank you for the water.

Moana poured herself another glass, lifted it to her face and, while watching the ball of energy from across her, hid the tiny upward curve stretching on her lips by taking another sip.

* * *

It was supposed to be a short meeting. Give back the Tupperware, say thank you, and then leave. Moana wanted to spend the rest of the day tucked in her own bed because tomorrow was the start of a new semester, but her plans were thrown in the dumpster when it wasn't Ariel who opened the door.

"Moana, right?" asked one of the blondes. "I already called Ariel. She'll be here soon."

"Did you like the cake?" asked a brunette. "Ariel was really excited to give them to you. She made it herself! We have some leftovers too if you want."

Moana cleared her throat. "It's alright. Uhm..." She briefly entertained the idea of insisting to leave, but after being intensely forced inside the house, she figured there was no way out.

As the girls began chatting amongst themselves, Moana seized the moment to observe. There were six girls of different ages occupying the seats in the living room, all having introduced themselves as Ariel's sister. Ariel had mentioned her sisters every time they'd met. Moana had expected maybe two or three of them, but definitely not six. And their names, the only thing she could remember was that each of them started with letter A.

"I've heard you're starting in a new school."

Moana looked up at the same blonde from before. "Yes. Tomorrow is my first day."

"Tomorrow? By any chance, is it Disney Academy?"

Surprised to receive a correct answer on the first guess, Moana said in a low voice, "Yes."

"What year are you on?"

"Junior."

"No way!" The wide smile spreading across the woman's face betrayed her disbelief. "The same as Ariel!"

Just then, the front door opened and in came a perspiring-but-excited redhead. "Same with what?" Ariel asked in between heavy pants, throwing a set of keys on the nearby table. "Sorry, I'm late!" She raised a hand in front of her chest and smiled apologetically at Moana.

"Moana's enrolled in Disney and in the same year as you!"

"What?!" Ariel gasped, snapping her head to their guest. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"You didn't ask," Moana answered, highly amused to see the redhead overreact.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised," replied one of Ariel's sisters with a chuckle.

"Not funny, Arista," Ariel grumbled before squeezing herself between Moana and one of her sisters on the couch. "You should've told me. Do you have your schedule with you? We can check our classes! Oh, I can show you around if you want!"

"Knowing you, you'll only get distracted by mundane things while giving her a tour," Arista teased.

"Shush!" Ariel growled, a blush rising on her cheeks when her other sisters laughed at the display. "Don't embarrass me in front of a potential classmate!"

Moana could feel another tug on her lips. She couldn't help it. The scene was amusing for her. From the first time she'd met Ariel, she already could tell that the girl was a bit of a scatterbrain. Clumsy, easily distracted, and incredibly enthusiastic about everyday stuff. And while those behaviors usually made her cringe, it was different when it came to this girl. Like being a scatterbrain suited her.

"Ah!" Ariel squealed, jaw hanging agape at Moana. "You smiled again!"

All heads turned to Moana.

There was a mild pause before the older girls looked at the youngest redhead of the group, one of them crossing her arms and smirking. "I didn't catch it, but maybe she was laughing at you?"

"Hey!" Ariel whined, her attention back to her sisters.

Moana once again allowed that subtle smile of hers appear. The way this girl tried to stand up for herself despite being gang up on by her older sisters, the way the redness of her cheeks intensified when she was being teased, and the way she seemed to be enjoying herself despite all of that...

 _Yup. It suits her._


End file.
